The Poetry of Arthur and Merlin
by TheDailyKnight
Summary: AU, Merthur. When King Arthur complains about Merlin telling his knights that they were practicing poetry whilst in fact searching for King Uther's ghost, Merlin challenges him to actually try writing some before criticising it. Here is the result of that challenge. As usual, copyright belongs to the relevant parties. I am only playing with the guys and own nothing.


**The Poetry of Arthur and Merlin**

"Poetry."

"What's the matter with poetry?" said Merlin, tidying away the last of Arthur's lunch. "Would you rather have told your knights that we were busy hunting down the ghost of your father?"

"Of course not. But you could have chosen something which doesn't make me sound like so much of a girl."

"You're nothing like a girl, Arthur. Trust me, I know. I saw you in the mirror this morning."

He slipped Arthur a cheeky wink. Arthur's cheeks turned a light red as they always did when Merlin – innocent-looking, harmless-looking Merlin – made a comment like that.

"Yes, well..."

Arthur looked away to disguise his embarrassment.

"Have you ever _tried_ to write a poem?"

"Merlin, do I look like the kind of King who has time to write nonsensical nonsense?"

"You write treaties."

"Alright, you've made your point."

"Why don't you try?"

"What?"

"I'm serious. If the knights now think that you can write poetry, why don't you write me a poem? Nobody would have to know except us. You might even find yourself enjoying it."

"Do I have to?"

Merlin turned puppy-dog eyes on him and smiled.

"I would love it if you did. It would be a wonderfully romantic gesture."

"Girl."

"Clotpole."

Arthur sighed.

"Please?"

"Alright, if you insist and it will keep you both happy and quiet, but I want one in return."

"Deal! When shall we give them to each other?"

"Tomorrow morning. I don't want this thing hanging over our heads. I want to get it over with as soon as possible."

"Alright, but I want to read you mine."

"Do we really have to?"

Merlin pouted. Arthur gave in.

"Fine, we'll read them to each other if you insist."

"Brilliant! Thanks, Arthur. This is going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait!"

With that, Merlin kissed his boyfriend and left to sort out Arthur's washing. Arthur reluctantly picked up a quill and worked his way through the latest pile of legal documents on his desk. As he worked, his mind started to compose something.

When Merlin woke him the following morning, he looked even sunnier than he normally did. There was a piece of parchment clutched in his hand and it took Arthur a few moments to remember why. He lay back and groaned.

"Is it that time already?"

Merlin nodded his head eagerly and beckoned a chair over. Once it had hopped its way across the room he took a seat on it.

"Did you write me a poem?" he asked anxiously.

Arthur gestured to the floor. All around him were balls of screwed up parchment.

"Oh. Did you finish one?"

Merlin's voice was hopeful.

"Yes. It kept me awake all night and is hardly ground-breaking, but I did finish one."

Merlin beamed.

"So, who's going first?" he asked.

"Me," said Arthur without hesitating. "I didn't write it down. It's in my head and I don't want to forget it. It's called, 'I didn't believe in sorcery'."

"Oh, alright," said Merlin, leaning forward to listen. "Well, when you're ready then."

Arthur cleared his throat, fought down the sudden feeling of idiocy that was stealing over him, and recited:

"_I didn't believe in sorcery, when I first met you and you first met me. I didn't believe in the good it could do, when it killed first my mother then, inside, father too. I followed my father, never thinking that those who are closest to me used it under my nose. _

"_Then out of the crowd came this gawky young man, brimming with smiles and sporting a tan. He challenged me, right there on the spot, in front of the town to stop being a clot. Well I didn't take kindly and went to with my mace, determined to wipe the grin from his face. But later I wonder, who would I be, had I succeeded in decapitating thee? _

"_The glow of your eyes would be lost to the Earth, as would the sound of such joy and mirth as you teased me in public to show me your worth. So I came to love that annoying young man, in spite of his flaws and his humour deadpan. _

"_He gave me his time, he gave me his wisdom, he gave me a word I couldn't rhyme in a season. He grew on me in ways that I knew, ways that I didn't and ways I can't clue. He gave me a weapon: a fantastic sword, and I make him polish it until he is bored. _

"_But when he is bored and his mind starts to wander, he imagines me naked and his thoughts start to thunder. "How do I lure my Prince into his bed?" he thinks as he works from the hilt to the head. And his mind, it concocts, in ways mostly cunning, his latest invention to make me come running. _

"_Oh his eyes, how they glisten, how his lips become merry as I fall for his plan to go stealing my cherry. So I play along as he unveils his plan, convinced as he is that's he's fooling his man. I try not to groan as he lures me to bed, convinced that he's somehow controlling my head. But the love, when it comes, is fiery and true, with kissing and moaning and coating with goo. So in spite of his flaws and his terminal smilin', he is, in the end, my boyfriend, my Merlin._"

Merlin said nothing, but leaned forward and kissed him.

"It's awful, isn't it?" said Arthur anxiously.

"No! No. It's very nice. I like it. Tell me though, did you really want to decapitate me when we first met?"

"Absolutely. You showed me up in front of the whole town. I'm glad I didn't though. I would be lost without you."

He kissed Merlin reassuringly and was glad to see him grin.

"Alright, I've shown myself up, now it's your turn. What did you come up with?"

"Well, it's a bit short," said Merlin as he unrolled the parchment.

"That's fine," said Arthur, relieved that if it were too embarrassing at least it wouldn't last very long. "What's it called?"

"'I've seen you laugh'."

At this, Arthur chuckled.

"When you're ready," he said, settling back in his bed to listen.

Merlin looked down at the poem in his hands and read:

"_I've seen you laugh, I've seen you cry, I've known the way you caught my eye. I've seen the way you dig your holes. For them I call you 'My Clotpole'._

"_I've seen you rule o'er far and wide and when you do I've often sighed. For a man who holds such power near and shrugs away all horrors and fear, you're thinking's muddied, not always clear. _

"_Until, that is, you come to bed; Slide under the sheets and bow your head. You make me whine and you make me plead. You fill me with your lust and need._

"_Knights stuff their ears with all they can, to block out the noise of you being my man. Dragons beg me in far-off lands to block my connection with a wave of my hands. _

"_But I ignore 'most all of this and share with them my joy and bliss. Especially when I grab your bum and you pound me to delirium._

"_For after, you see, my dearest Prince, it's into the tub for a wash and a rinse. And when you're back in bed once more, I sleep with you and your dulcet snore."_

Arthur's reply was far from immediate. Once he'd got his laughter under control and had dried his eyes, he pulled Merlin into a tight hug.

"I take it that means that it has a royal seal of approval?"

"It's very cheeky, Merlin. I love it. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Arthur leaned forward and kissed him. Then he rolled him suddenly onto the bed and straddled his hips.

"Arthur!" said Merlin between laughs as Arthur ripped his clothes from him. "What are you _doing_?"

"I'm speeding up your latest plan to get be into bed. That's what this was all about, wasn't it?"

"No."

"Well, it is now. Come here!"

So it was that Merlin found himself living out the truth of his own poem.


End file.
